The Ultimate Choice
by iamAnnabethJackson
Summary: It's been 3 years since The Right Arm destroyed WICKED. Thomas, the surviving Gladers, and the other group of immune people are trying to carry on normal lives in their little "oasis". But fate isn't done screwing up their lives. What will happen when Teresa and yet more "immunies" decide to show up? Takes place after The Death Cure.


_Hello! Thank you so much for choosing my story even with the stupid summary! I like you already!:)_

_I usually despise authors notes in general but this is a brand new story so there are just a few things before we begin- _

_1. As much as I love JDash and his awesome amazing books, I do not however, love his choice in names. I absolutely could not accept two of the names in the story and even though they aren't my names to change, I had to change them. You are welcome to read them as the originals, but I unfortunately can not. Teresa has been changed to "Tearsa" (pronounced Tear-zah) and Brenda has been changed to Brenna. I tried to make the change as small as possible to leave your brain room to change it while you read if you do so choose. I am deeply sorry if this offends anyone but I really didn't like those names nor did i feel it suited their characters._

_2. page breaks most of the time indicate a flashback/memory. _

_3. There are no gay ships in this story so if that's what you were looking for sorry:( (you should still read it though!)_

_4. I will update as much as I can but what really keeps me updating is the reviews! no reviews = no update_

_But enough about me. Please read and enjoy and don't forget to review! (I accept constructive criticism:)_

The city of small little huts and homes lay just over the last hill. After traveling through vast expanses of forest crossing countless rivers and streams, walking all day and all night until your feet hurt-the city of the last sane group of people on earth was a glorious sight. For over 9 months, Tearsa led her small group of 15, 8 of which used to work for WICKED and the rest were former Right Arm members-in a search to find the lost group of "immunies." Finally, finally, they had found their settlement.

As the group began to descend down towards the low lying valley, everyone cheered. They were almost out of food and supplies and had been doubting they would ever find them. But Tearsa never gave up. She was determined. And as she hiked her last few miles, she was only concerned for one thing.

Thomas.

"Tearsa!" Thomas spun around as the piece of ceiling came crashing down on top of her. He tried in vain to get her free it was too late. She was going to die. He had to know. Thomas had to know. Tearsa sucked in a breath and tried to speak.

"I only ever...I only ever cared for...you."

But it was too late. Thomas didn't hear the last word. Thomas was gone through the shimmering gray wall. Gone from her forever.

She descended into a murky, thick darkness.

"Hurry up! We're so close!" Spencer shouted over his shoulder. They _were_ close and Spencer was excited to meet the people she had talked about for so long.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She jogged a bit to close the distance between them and Spencer smiled his special smile. The one that reached his eyes and made him look like a little kid.

Spencer was the man who had saved her from the explosions. He dragged her half dead body out from under the piece of ceiling and brought her to the rescue camp. There had been a mix of different people-mostly Right Arm people with some WICKED refugees. After the WICKED compound exploded, the world broke out into chaos. It turns out WICKED had been the ones making and distributing The Bliss and without it, people were dying quicker left and right. The "rescue camp" went out for about a year trying to find any and everyone who was immune. But there was hardly anyone left. All structure and order disappeared and the human race had been reduced to approximately 1/12 of its original population in just a little under twenty-five years. Tearsa had never in her life seen so many dead people.

Eventually she found herself in a band of about thirty immune people-about a year and a half after WICKED was destroyed. Among these people was Chancellor Ava Paige. Tearsa and Spencer had found her while they were making a trek to the Scorch to find immune people. Ava told them she knew where the oasis was and had a map and everything. It was perfect-but to some of the others in their band, it was _too_ perfect.

Tearsa shuddered at the awful memories and wouldn't let herself finish her thoughts. They were approaching the gate and four or five guards were standing outside the gate with a couple more on the opposite side. Their weapons were drawn and pointing directly at them.

"Don't come any further!" A big burly man barked. Tearsa didn't recognize any of the guards. She expected to see some of the Gladers but they were all strangers. "Somebody get Minho or Thomas!"

A tall skinny man who couldn't be older than twenty, spun around and jerked open the gate. He took off sprinting to get...Thomas.

Tearsa's heart skipped about five beats in a row. She was so close. So, so, close.

***Thomas POV***

"Thomas! We have company!" Minho pounds his fist on the door as loud and as hard as he can. "Wake up! Meet everyone at the gate in two minutes!"

Thomas groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. He shivered and realized he didn't have any blanket. He blinked his eyes open and smiled. Brenna was rolled up in the blanket like a mummy sleeping peacefully. Either that or she was ignoring Minho's orders. Not that Minho was in charge-Thomas was. But of course Thomas chose Minho as his right hand man.

"Brenna time to wake up, sweet heart." Thomas gently unraveled her from the blanket and kissed her nose. Brenna smiled and slowly fluttered her beautiful eyes open. Instinctively, like she did every morning, Brenna's hand touched her ever growing tummy. She looked down lovingly at her and Thomas' child-to-be and an overwhelming happiness washed through Thomas.

Thomas had grown to love seeing her face every morning. It'd been almost three years since they escaped WICKED and lots of things had changed. People realized they were the last sane people on earth and that they needed to keep the human race going. Sooner rather than later, adults and even teenagers started pairing off. It took a while for Brenna to convince Thomas to have a baby. He had been through so much he had given up any chance of having a normal life. He hated the world and most of the people in it.

But having a baby meant a lot to Brenna, and as the leader of their "city" (as Minho liked to call it) Thomas wanted to set a good example. So Thomas and Brenna moved into one of the nicer houses and...the rest is history.

Thomas forced himself up out of bed and grabbed some clothes. Brenna slowly sat up and stretched.

"Did I hear Minho shouting something?" Brenna asked as she moved toward the bathroom.

"Yep. Something about meeting him at the gate. Why don't you stay here and i"ll go see what it's about. It's probably nothing." After everything that had happened to him, nothing surprised him anymore. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't bigger than anything he'd already faced.

Brenna just nodded at what he said and didn't argue. Becoming a mother had changed her in ways Thomas didn't quite understand. She had lost some of her "fieriness" and rebelliousness but had gained a kindness and a gentleness that made him love her even more.

Brenna came up to him and gave him a tight, long hug.

"Be safe."

Thomas pulled away from the hug and looked down at Brenna. "Love you. I'll be back soon." He bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Why don't you grab something to eat?" Brenna started towards their small kitchen.

"No I'm okay. The sentries are probably just fighting over who's on duty." But Thomas grabbed an apple anyways and walked out the door.

It was a long walk to the northern gate. Everyone's houses seemed to be empty and the town was eerily quiet. AS Thomas got closer the center of town-also known as the "commons" since that's were most activity happened-he realized why the houses were quiet and empty. Every single person in the settlement was in the commons and everyone was shouting.

_What the…._

"Thomas! Where the shuck is Thomas!" Minho screamed as loud as he could over the noise.

Thomas ran as fast as he could the rest of the way. He searched for Minho through the screaming crowd. People grabbed at his clothes with terrified looks in their eyes.

"Don't let them in Thomas! Don't let them in!" People swarmed around him and everyone was telling him the same thing. "Don't let them in! They could be cranks!"

Mr. McGee, owner of the town's general store, grabbed him from behind and said "Don't you dare let that girl in Thomas. Don't you dare!" His eyes were filled with fiery conviction and his face was red all over. Mr. McGee was the most laid back gentleman Thomas had ever met.

_What is going on!?_

Finally Thomas made it through to the gate to find Minho shouting at people to get back.

"Where the shuck have you _been_?"

"What the heck is going on?" Thomas shoved Minho out of his line of vision to see what or who was on the other side of the gate.

Thomas stared. He couldn't believe his eyes. Standing on the other side of the gate, with tears streaming down her face, was Tearsa.


End file.
